Wedding Party

Nicole Albano

Maid of Honor

Michael Murtha

Best Man

Growing up, Michael and Joe could be found watching and playing sports together or competing in video games - particularly Pokémon Stadium or having epic Madden battles. When they weren’t doing one of these activities, they could usually be found wrestling and imitating WWE moves from superstars like the Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin. They would also spend every Sunday together watching football, usually watching the Giants for the early game and the 49ers for the afternoon game, their two favorite NFL teams. They also regularly ganged up on their older sister Catherine to pick on her, either by annoying her, giving her bear hugs or carrying her around the house while she got mad at them. Because of their age difference of five years, they never had the chance to go to the same school or play any sports at the same level together, but they enjoyed competing in all the same sports - mostly baseball and swimming. Particularly in swimming Michael enjoyed seeing what personal bests he could hit that were better than Joe. As they got older, Joe enjoyed the ability to coach his little brother in baseball and at three different levels in swimming - summer, high school and finally at the D1 level at Manhattan College. Even with adulting getting in the way and Michael's crazy work schedule as a detective in NJ, they regularly talk sports, discuss the latest Marvel or DC movies, share crazy stats with each other and make it a point to enjoy some beers together when they can.

Nickie Le Fever

Matron of Honor

Jonathan Slaven

Groomsman

One thing was for sure growing up, if either Jonathan or Joe were in trouble for something you knew without a doubt both were involved. They met through a neighborhood childcare and were inseparable as kids. Despite being in different sports growing up, they always managed to be hanging out together outside of practice, whether riding bikes to Walmart, playing street hockey, going to concerts, hiking or grabbing beers at Otts. They hung out so often that anytime Jonathan was at Joe’s house he would be told his mother called and said to go home. Jonathan’s family would also regularly mistake Joe for Jonathan’s older brother while sitting on their couch. Even though they went to the same schools until college and living less than a half mile a part through high school, they ended up going to different colleges - Jonathan to Delaware and Joe to Fordham. However, that didn't stop them from regularly visiting each other getting into more trouble whenever Joe's swimming schedule permitted. Their first jobs after college even worked out so they could commute together every day. In 2014. Joe had the honor of being Jonathan’s best man, which he celebrated by “icing” the newlyweds during his toast. In 2016, Joe had a proud "father" moment where he and Jonathan's wife, Victoria, made it a point to embarrass him by cheering louder than anyone else during his Villanova graduation as he earned his M.P.A. We are excited to also welcome Jonathan and Victoria's son this summer!

Jen Ryniker

Bridesmaid

Devin Kirby

Groomsman

Devin and Joe met on their neighborhood summer swim team, when Joe was 15 and Devin was 12. Because Devin was in a different age group, he started out friends with Joe's brother first, who was in another age group as well but shared the same practice time as Devin. As Devin spent more and more time hanging out at the house Joe and him started getting closer too, bonding over a lot of the same things - swimming, video games, sports and comics. After Joe turned 19 and couldn't swim on the team anymore, he turned to coaching at the summer club. It was at this time that Devin and his friendship really started to take off. Joe took Devin under his wing and got him into coaching, having him assist with the "pre-team" that consisted of kids 5 and under learning to swim. They also bonded over being Division 1 swimmers, as Devin would go on to swim at Towson University. Joe's first job used to take him to Maryland a lot, where he would plan his trips around a weekend so he could visit Devin at school, and later in Baltimore where Devin and his wife Courtney currently live. With their mutual love of video games, they love to spend 1-2 nights a week playing NHL or other games on Xbox and still play each other regularly late night when they get back from whatever bar they went to, much to the dismay of Courtney who always gets woken up by the shenanigans. Nowadays, Joe is known around Baltimore as Minister Murtha, as he had the honor of officiating Devin's wedding in 2019.

Dianna Lau

Bridesmaid

Michael Cobby

Groomsman

"Cobby" and Joe's friendship goes back over 30 years when they started kindergarten together. Growing up in the same neighborhood, Joe and Cobby lived one street apart and were able to cut through a neighbor's backyard to get to each other's houses to hang out. One of the earliest memories of their friendship was playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on original Nintendo (still the greatest video game of all time) or with the action figures. They also watched the 1993 World Series together as Cobby's hometown Blue Jays took on the Phillies and won (to the dismay of us Yankee fans). As they got older, they spent time in karate together (Cobby would go on to become a black belt, Joe would go on to become a dropout), in Boy Scouts (both achieving Eagle Scout one year apart), as baseball teammates and in swimming for both their neighborhood summer team and their high school. In swimming they even served as co-captains of their high school team together as seniors and spent years carpooling to practice every night. They would also make time to visit each other in college, including spending every Spring Weekend at UConn together partying in X Lot and in later years planning trips to see them play. Nowadays, Cobby and his wife live in Illinois, but him and Joe go out of their way to trash talk each other anytime the Maple Leafs are playing the Rangers or the Eagles are playing the Giants. Cobby even has Joe's autograph hanging in his house - on his marriage certificate.

Nicole Sprotte

Bridesmaid

Jake Sprotte

Groomsman

Katelyn Sprotte

Bridesmaid

Bobby Sprotte

Groomsman

Catherine Murtha

Bridesmaid

As Catherine’s younger brother, Joe had one job growing up (and still today) - annoy the hell out of her - and I think she would agree he was and is highly successful at it. As much as he has always tried to annoy her though, she is the perfect big sister - she was always cool enough to do things like let Joe drive her car home from school the day he got his license or protect her little brother when someone wronged him or laugh at him when he walked face first into doors with the lights off - even if he was a little brat at times. Due to their close age and some shared activities, they had a number of common friends. For example, while Joe grew up in Boy Scouts, she grew up in Girl Scouts. They also spent years swimming together year-round and many of those same friendships from Scouts translated to the pool too. Eventually Catherine tried to get away from Joe by going to Manhattan College, but two years later he followed her and went to school only 3 miles away creating a fun college rivalry and embracing the "Battle of the Bronx" spirit. For many years after college, they lived a few blocks apart so Joe would constantly stop by to see his sister and try and drag her out to bars in Woodlawn. With Catherine being an elementary school teacher, Joe has always enjoyed stopping by the classroom to meet her students and supporting them with various school fundraisers - whether it be a carnival or buying Girl Scout cookies - especially Thin Mints!

Ela Sagona

Junior Bridesmaid

Avery Hassouna

Flower Girl

Not a day goes by without Joe and Kristen watching and/or quoting one of Avery’s epic videos. This kid could be the next Olsen twin or Shirley Temple and always manages to crack us up. She is always asking to FaceTime us and even exchanges video messages with Joe from time to time while he’s traveling for work, where they spend time recapping their days. We especially enjoy our games of hide and seek where Avery tells us where to hide and then she has to find us!

Caden Sprotte

Ring Bearer

We are so excited to have this little meatball as our ring bearer! Knowing how important he is to us, he recently decided to learn how to walk because he knew he was needed for our big day! Kristen and Joe have loved every minute of watching Caden grow up and love the daily videos and/or photos they get of him.